Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina

As a recipient of the Arts Connects Us Grant I travelled to Ghana and Sierra Leone to meet with writers and publishing professionals working in the field of books for young readers to foster creative and collaborative exchanges between those contacts and publishing professionals and readers in the UK. This blog post is by necessity a focus on very specific meetings and conversations and is only a fraction of the encounters and connections I made. I planned my visit to Ghana to coincide with the PaGya! Festival which is organised by Writers Project Ghana and the Goethe Institute. Over the course of three days writers and publishers gathered to talk about everything from poetry to narrative non-fiction, memoir to books for younger readers.  There was a packed programme from morning until night with simultaneous events happening making the festival a positive and vibrant event. Speakers came from all over the world and their backgrounds, interests and perspectives ensured a well rounded and broad look at the world of writing with roots in West Africa. Prior to the festival I had arranged several days of meetings with people involved in the world of children’s literature to talk about their work as writers and publishers and also to get to grips with the market in Ghana.  It soon became very clear that not only is there a thriving publishing scene in Ghana it is one that is self-sufficient both in terms of talent and audience.  I was told often that what readers in Ghana need... Continue reading at 'British Council global'

[ British Council global | 2019-03-19 11:10:28 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina"


World Literature Today’s 75 Notable Translations of 2020, by Michelle Johnson

Lit Lists Literary translation’s 2020 story is one of abundance and adaptation. Like most books published this year, dozens of new translations were published during a global pandemic. Events quickly moved from bookstores to Zoom. Writers and... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-14 20:55:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


7 Books That Prove You’re Not the Only Weirdo

Apologies, but I have to begin my introduction to this list of books by briefly mentioning my own book; shout your aggrievance about this to the heavens if you must. Writing my book, which is a hybrid of memoir and reporting about my dog, was difficult for me at times, because I’m not used to... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-12-11 12:00:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Book Deals: Week of December 14, 2020

Don Winslow sells a trilogy to William Morrow for seven figures, Dey Street buys a memoir from Moon Unit Zappa, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Melania Trump’s post-White House book might not be a memoir after all, which is fine.

For a while, Melania Trump has teased that she might write a book after the Trump family exits the White House. I, like many, had mixed feelings. On one hand, it’d be interesting to see the Trump administration from the point of the view of the famously sullen First Lady; but on the other hand,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-10 18:18:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


All I want for Christmas is the death of lazy 'diversity' language

In light of last week’s Penguin ethnicity pay gap report, their first-ever following in the footsteps of Hachette’s 2019 iteration, it seems like the perfect moment to reconsider the publishing industry’s approach to those vague, catch-all acronyms and terms that are so often used... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-10 06:31:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Announcing a New Publishing Project and a Call for Co-Editors: Best Translations: An Annual Anthology, by The Editors of WLT

News and Events Photo by Wendy Call / www.wendycall.com Deadline for Applications: Thursday, January 7, 2021 Call for Applications: Two series co-editors, one with expertise in Asian literatures and one with expertise in Middle Eastern and/or... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-09 14:16:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: December 9, 2020

“I personally know the author of this story you’re reading.” Oh look, a new story by Rachel Kushner. | Lit Hub Fiction Finding your craft: Wright Thompson on bourbon, books, and writing your way out of small-town America. | Lit Hub Memoir “He ripped his shirt open, revealing the bloody tooth,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-09 11:30:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Dame Elizabeth Anionwu's memoir to Seven Dials

Seven Dials has acquired Dame Elizabeth Anionwu’s memoir Dreams From My Mother, a trailblazing nurse's story of how she overcame a background of shame, stigma and discrimination to dedicate her to life to fighting inequality.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-09 10:06:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Anita Rani's 'deeply personal' memoir to Bonnier

Bonnier Books UK will publish The Right Sort of Girl, a "deeply personal" coming-of-age memoir from broadcaster Anita Rani.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 17:30:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What We're Reading December 2020

Take a look at previous What We’re Reading blogs for more reading inspiration.Don’t Worry, Little Crab by Chris HaughtonAll Chris Haughton’s delightful picture books for young children open with a quotation, which the story then evinces. His latest, surprisingly, quotes Anaïs Nin: ‘Life shrinks... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-12-08 12:08:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Sinéad O’Connor memoir out June with Sandycove

Sinéad O’Connor's long-awaited and “revelatory” memoir Rememberings will be released by Penguin General imprint Sandycove in June 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-08 08:41:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Strange and Wondrous Journeys with Palestinian Writer Sonia Nimr, by Madison Doyle

Book Reviews Sonia Nimr / Source: TAMER Institute for Community Education This whirlwind adventure begins with protagonist Qamar’s birth and follows her life along the titular wondrous journeys around the Mediterranean. Less novel than novella,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-07 20:34:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this


We Need to Talk About England

THE BASIC POLITICAL BACKDROP of Alex Niven’s New Model Island is that Britain is potentially only halfway through a 20-year period of Conservative governance, and that the union may lose several members before power changes hands at Westminster. But the book, a peculiar volume of polemic and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-12-07 16:00:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rodchenkov wins £30K William Hill Sports Book of the Year

Grigory Rodchenkov has won this year's William Hill Sports Book of the Year award for his memoir The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Putin’s Secret Doping Empire (W H Allen). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 21:02:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Green Book Supply Chain Alliance launches industry survey

The International Green Book Supply Chain Alliance has this week launched a global industry survey, to gather data about the publishing industry's environmental intiatives.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 20:48:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lit Hub Daily: December 3, 2020

“I have never in my life met anyone with such an acute lexical feel for the specific word needed, for the hidden rhythm of a prose sentence.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on his beloved wife Aliya. | Lit Hub Memoir “I am no longer acquainted with the people who made drug ingestion easy, or free, or... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-03 11:30:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Cunningham takes top prize at RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards

Doreen Cunningham has won £10,000 for her memoir Soundings: A Journey with Whales at this year's Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Awards.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-03 05:13:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Booksellers See Subdued In-Store Holiday Sales, Online Eruption

Booksellers reported a significant drop in customer traffic and a commensurate drop in sales, but online orders were way up, forcing bookstores to adapt. Barack Obama's memoir and Jeff Kinney's latest were the most popular titles over the Thanksgiving weekend at stores surveyed by 'PW.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


An Orpheus and Eurydice Remix: Talking to Lilliam Rivera about Never Look(ing) Back, by Bayleigh Acosta

Interviews   Photo of Lilliam Rivera by Lilith Ferreira / Las Fotos Project Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of children’s books who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Rivera’s work has appeared in the New York Times,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-02 22:19:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lilliam Rivera’s Orpheus and Eurydice Remix: Talking about Never Look(ing) Back, by Bayleigh Acosta

Interviews   Photo of Lilliam Rivera by Lilith Ferreira / Las Fotos Project Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of children’s books who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Rivera’s work has appeared in the New York Times,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-02 22:19:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this